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Maybe it's just me but this doesn't sound like something I would want to send to a law school.

Everyone says law school is completely different from undergrad. However, your argument for why your grades were so bad is that you weren't used to the system?

I also personally wouldn't send this to a law school. The reasons that you describe for poor academic performance are things that the grand majority of college students face.

Also, never complain that the reason you did poorly was an "extremely demanding full course load." You're gonna have a full course load every semester at law school and it's going to be 100% more demanding than anything you will have faces at a community college. Telling them that only lets them know that you won't be able to handle everything they throw at you. Not meant to sound rude, simply presenting the truth.

HarvardHopeful95 wrote:Also, never complain that the reason you did poorly was an "extremely demanding full course load." You're gonna have a full course load every semester at law school and it's going to be 100% more demanding than anything you will have faces at a community college. Telling them that only lets them know that you won't be able to handle everything they throw at you. Not meant to sound rude, simply presenting the truth.

Agreed. You basically wrote "I do bad in all the situations I will face in law school."

I would imagine you have to explain something about the probation. But I would keep it short and sweet: "I was placed on academic probation after the fall [year] semester at University of X and again after the fall 2009 semester at College of X. During these semesters I was working [full time? how many hours/wk], as well as commuting [what amount of time?] when attending University of X. I was also coping with [the "personal issues" you mention - it sounds like they were different from work/commute? - it might be worth explaining this more, if it's something like parents' divorce or medical problems. If it's mental health problems, just say "medical issues."] These responsibilities interfered with my attention to my studies. After [date] I took [however much time] off from school. When I returned, I was able to devote the necessary time to succeed in my studies and earned a cumulative GPA of [whatever], which I believe more accurately represents my potential for success in law school than my earlier grades."

FairchildFLT wrote:

HarvardHopeful95 wrote:Also, never complain that the reason you did poorly was an "extremely demanding full course load." You're gonna have a full course load every semester at law school and it's going to be 100% more demanding than anything you will have faces at a community college. Telling them that only lets them know that you won't be able to handle everything they throw at you. Not meant to sound rude, simply presenting the truth.

Agreed. You basically wrote "I do bad in all the situations I will face in law school."

A. Nony Mouse wrote:I would imagine you have to explain something about the probation. But I would keep it short and sweet: "I was placed on academic probation after the fall [year] semester at University of X and again after the fall 2009 semester at College of X. During these semesters I was working [full time? how many hours/wk], as well as commuting [what amount of time?] when attending University of X. I was also coping with [the "personal issues" you mention - it sounds like they were different from work/commute? - it might be worth explaining this more, if it's something like parents' divorce or medical problems. If it's mental health problems, just say "medical issues."] These responsibilities interfered with my attention to my studies. After [date] I took [however much time] off from school. When I returned, I was able to devote the necessary time to succeed in my studies and earned a cumulative GPA of [whatever], which I believe more accurately represents my potential for success in law school than my earlier grades."

Honestly, thank you guys. I had absolutely no idea what to write so thanks for the honest feedback. I've revised it, please let me know if this is better. Thanks again.

How long ago was all this? Ideally, the facts are such that you can add a line to the effect of "Ten years ago, when I was in college....Since that time, I've become much more adept at handling the rigors of university life..." or something like that. If these consistently poor GPAs were in the last several years, I would think very carefully about going to law school until you've distanced yourself from them.

psu2016 wrote:How long ago was all this? Ideally, the facts are such that you can add a line to the effect of "Ten years ago, when I was in college....Since that time, I've become much more adept at handling the rigors of university life..." or something like that. If these consistently poor GPAs were in the last several years, I would think very carefully about going to law school until you've distanced yourself from them.

2007 & 2009